Road Mortality Contributes to the Evolution of an Urban-Rural Cline in Squirrel Coat Color.

ABSTRACT: Cities impose unique selection pressures on wildlife and generate clines in phenotypic traits along urban-rural gradients. Roads are a widespread feature of human-dominated landscapes and are known to cause direct wildlife mortality; however, whether they act as a selective force influencing phenotypic trait variation along urban-rural gradients remains unclear. This study tested the hypothesis that roads influence natural selection of coat color in the eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), a species with two distinct coat colors: a gray morph that is common in all areas and a melanic morph more prevalent in urban areas than in rural ones. Vehicular collisions are a significant cause of mortality in eastern gray squirrels, with the melanic morph more visually conspicuous on

SUBMITTER: Parlin AF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12089062 | biostudies-literature | 2025 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature